Naked S'mores Cake

Chocolate Cake

2 cups of Flour

¾ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 ½ tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Salt

1 tsp espresso

2 cups Granulated Sugar

½ cup Melted Butter

2 Lg Eggs - Room Temperature

1 cup Buttermilk - Room Temperature

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 cup Hot Coffee

Marshmallow Fluff

⅓ cup Water

¾ cup Granulated Sugar

¾ cup Light Corn Syrup

3 Egg Whites -  Room Temperature

½ tsp Cream of Tartar

½ Tbsp Vanilla Extract

2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice, about ½ a Lemon

Caramel Buttercream

1 cup Softened Butter

1.5 LBs of Powdered Sugar - Sifted

3 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Salt

½ cup Caramel

Chocolate Layer

½ cup Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips

1 ½ tsp Coconut Oil

Chocolate Drip

¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

½ cup Chocolate

Chocolate Cake‍

• Preheat the oven to 350 and grease 3, 6-inch pans and set aside.
  

• Sift together Flour, Cocoa, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Espresso Powder and set aside.
  

• Whisk the Sugar and Butter on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3ish minutes. Add the Eggs and Vanilla, mix another 2-3 minutes until fluffy, then add the Buttermilk.
  

• Alternate the Hot Coffee and Flour mix in 4 batches, be careful not to over mix! The batter will be thin, it’s supposed to be.
  

• Evenly distribute the batter between your three pans and bake for 28 - 35 minutes, until your tester comes out dry, I use a butter knife.

Marshmallow Fluff

• Add the Water, Sugar, and Corn Syrup to a saucepan and mix until well combined, on medium heat.
• Heat the mixture until it hits 230 degrees with a candy thermometer.
• When it hits 230 start whipping the Egg Whites and Cream of Tartar together in your mixer until soft peaks form. Keep cooking the Sugar mixture until it reaches 240 degrees.
• When the Egg Whites have soft peaks, slowly pour the Sugar mixture into the Egg Whites, whipping on low to medium speed. The Egg Whites will deflate slightly but turn the mixer on high and whip until the mix becomes glossy, add the lemon juice and vanilla. Mix for another few minutes until fluff consistency.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container. This recipe will make extra.

Caramel Buttercream

• Beat the Butter until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add the sifted Powdered Sugar in. Mix until well combined. Add in the Cream, Vanilla, salt, and caramel. Whip for 4 minutes.

Chocolate Layer

• Melt together on a double boiler. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the melted chocolate onto it in a thin layer and chill.

Chocolate Drip ‍

• Boil the Cream then pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute then mix together. Let sit out for 5 minutes before using.

Assembly

• Take 2 of your chocolate cake rounds and slice the dome off of each to make sure the round is flat. Set one aside.
• Take your first cake round and pipe a line of buttercream around the edge to act as a wall for the marshmallow cream.
• Fill the inside of the buttercream circle with the marshmallow cream and use a kitchen torch to toast the top of it if you want a little bit of that toasty flavor. Take your chocolate slab you created and break it up into smaller pieces to layer on top of the marshmallow
• Repeat the above steps for the next layer.
  

• Flip the top cake layer upside down so the top layer is facing up. This gives you a flat top to work with.
• Chill for 10 minutes in the freezer so that everything sets up.
• Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the whole cake, this is called a crumb coat so don’t worry if it’s not perfect!
• Chill again for 10 minutes
• Apply a thick coat of frosting and smooth it
• Take chocolate ganache and test out the drip on a chilled bowl once it’s as you like then fill in the top of the cake with the ganache allowing it to artfully drip over the sides.
• Take leftover marshmallow and pipe it on top and torch the outside to get the effect you want.